


I won't say I'm in love

by tresbyun



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: KnB - Freeform, M/M, in which I'm late for everything, nijiaka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 09:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3687030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tresbyun/pseuds/tresbyun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The snickers started with none other than Aomine. At first Akashi thought nothing of it—after all, their ace was known to be easily amused, if his excitement about little things like Kuroko winning some special ice cream stick was anything to go by. He was pretty sure it wasn’t anything dire, since Momoi would come along soon after to hit him over the head with either her megaphone or harisen. While the frequency of Aomine’s snickers was no doubt irritating, Akashi had let it be. </p><p>It was when Akashi realized that the snickers were particularly loud whenever he would approach Nijimura-senpai that he started feeling a little suspicious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I won't say I'm in love

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Ore-Akashi. Pre-Captain Akashi Teiko days. Wrote the fic for Valentine’s, was two weeks late. Decided to finish it for NijiAka week, anD I MISSED BY A DAY.

 

 

The snickers started with none other than Aomine. At first Akashi thought nothing of it—after all, their ace was known to be easily amused, if his excitement about little things like Kuroko winning some special ice cream stick was anything to go by. He was pretty sure it wasn’t anything dire, since Momoi would come along soon after to hit him over the head with either her megaphone or _harisen_. While the frequency of Aomine’s snickers was no doubt irritating, Akashi had let it be.

 

It was when Akashi realized that the snickers were particularly loud whenever he would approach Nijimura-senpai that he started feeling a little suspicious.

 

Initially Akashi wondered if there was some sort of joke going on between Nijimura and Aomine in regards to him—but Nijimura was usually an open book, and he didn’t seem to share Aomine’s amusement, whatever the amusement was about. Plus, aside from Akashi—and Momoi since she was the manager—none of the other first years was particularly close to the Captain. To confirm that it really _had_ something to do with Nijimura, during practice one day, Akashi made sure that the both of them were in Aomine’s field of vision before calling out, ‘Senpai!’ As if on cue, a cheeky grin crept up Aomine’s face.

 

However, what Akashi _didn’t_ expect to be on cue was Midorima, who was next to Aomine, turning away with one hand on his hips and the other pushing his glasses against his face. It was a gesture that Akashi knew indicated embarrassment, and he couldn’t deny that his interest had been piqued.

 

Hence, he decided to seek out answers from none other than the eldest of the first years in the first string—Kuroko.

 

The group of first years was changing in the locker room, and Akashi waited until everyone filed out, all the while keeping watch on Kuroko because, well, his misdirection didn’t just apply to when he was on the court, unfortunately.

 

Luckily enough for Akashi, they were the last two to remain in the changing room. He took the opportunity. ‘Kuroko.’

 

‘Yes, Akashi?’ Judging from his expectant tone, no doubt he had noticed the red-haired boy’s stares for the past few minutes.

 

Akashi got straight to the point. ‘Do you happen to know the reason behind Aomine’s glee every time I approach Nijimura-senpai?’

 

Kuroko was surprised—he hadn’t expected the younger boy to breach that particular subject. ‘No, but I can probably guess.’ He watched the other carefully, and was slightly confused when he came to the conclusion that Akashi genuinely did not expect a particular answer—that for once, the supposedly all-knowing Akashi Seijūrō had no clue as to what the reason behind Aomine’s shenanigans could be. Then again, he supposed that Akashi wouldn’t be this straightforward if he did.

 

At Kuroko’s blunt answer, it was Akashi’s turn to widen his eyes. ‘Is that so? Care to indulge? I have a feeling even Midorima’s onto the matter.’ It was when he saw Midorima’s reaction that Akashi crossed out the possibility of the matter being some joke conjured up by Aomine, for the bespectacled teenager was not one to find humor in trivial things like jokes, less so if they had been invented by someone like their ace.

 

Kuroko couldn’t help but smile slightly. It was rare for Akashi to be so carelessly curious about anything. ‘Sorry, Akashi, but I think it’s probably best if you figure the answer out for yourself.’ He knew his answer would piss the other off, but for once, he found more amusement than terror in the way Akashi’s eyebrows bunched together. Slinging his sports kit across his shoulder, he gave a small nod in the other’s way and said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Akashi,’ and walked out.

 

Akashi was beyond confused. Why was it best that he solved the puzzle himself? Not that he didn’t think he could get the answer easily if he were to delve into the matter, but what was so important that it had to be kept a secret from him?

 

Apparently, he had been standing there for a good few minutes, because Nijimura came in, announcing, ‘Hey, gym’s closing up! What the hell are you up to?’

 

At the familiar voice, Akashi broke out of his reverie. His face was a touch pinkish, embarrassed at having been caught doing something as childish as daydreaming. ‘Sorry, Nijimura-san, I’ll finish packing up.’ He didn’t want to admit, but he was also a little nervous at the fact that the person he had just been discussing with Kuroko was now watching him lazily with his typical sharp Captain gaze.

 

Seeing Akashi uncharacteristically fumble around brought a smile to Nijimura’s face. ‘You look a bit red. Did you cool off properly just now? It’s not a fever, isn’t it?’ he asked, brotherly instincts kicking in. He walked towards Akashi and to the latter’s surprise, brought a rough hand against his forehead. ‘You’re a bit warm, but it ain’t too bad. Rest up properly.’ With that, he transferred his hand from Akashi’s forehead to the top of his head, ruffling the other’s hair.

 

Despite the pleasantness behind the gestures of affection, Akashi was slightly flushed, though he was much too polite to push his senior’s hand away. ‘Don’t worry about me, Nijimura-san,’ he said, but still couldn’t help the feeling of pining when the large hand removed itself from the nest of his head. Those touches were becoming more common, but Akashi’s subconscious hunger for them didn’t ease a bit.

 

At the other’s typical response, Nijimura huffed through his nose, but smiled nonetheless. ‘Alright, scram, I’ll be locking the place up soon.’

 

Taking a step back and bowing to his senior, Akashi said, ‘Good work today, Nijimura-san. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.’ With that, he walked away, unable to help the slight feeling of pride at having kept his voice steady.

 

When Akashi finally stepped into his car, his chauffeur greeted him warmly. ‘Good evening, Young Master.’ He looked into the mirror above him, and smiled when he found a small but endearing smile on the teenager’s face. ‘Something good happened today?’

 

Still in a daze, Akashi only said, ‘Mm.’ He brought a hand up to his head, as if to imitate his Captain’s touch, only to frown when he found that his own hand was a size too small, fingers too soft.

 

\--

 

The next person Akashi had asked was Murasakibara.

 

Of course, the matter had to be handled shrewdly— Murasakibara was easily bribed with snacks, but that also meant that he didn’t discriminate according to the person. In other words, just as he could easily be bribed to tell Akashi about the inner workings of Aomine’s mind, the purple-haired giant could also be bought by his other teammates to tell on Akashi’s sneaky ways.

 

 _And I’ll be damned if I let Aomine flash me that smug grin of his just because he got me interested,_ Akashi thought as he scribbled down a list of Murasakibara’s snacks. Yes, he could just imagine Aomine teasing him, only revealing the reason if Akashi gave him some sort of offering—probably something crude like gravure magazines. The image made Akashi wince.

 

So the next Monday afternoon, Akashi readied himself outside Murasakibara’s classroom. Luckily, Aomine and Midorima’s classroom was on the other end of the corridor, which meant that they wouldn’t easily spot him. He’d also calculated the fact that Murasakibara walked at a terribly slow pace, despite his terribly long legs (sometimes Akashi finds himself glaring at them out of frustration, but reassured himself that his efficient timings more than made up for his legs).

 

The bell rang, and two long minutes after, Murasakibara came out, yawning. Akashi called out, ‘Murasakibara.’

 

The purple-haired giant turned around lazily. ‘Oh, Akachin,’ he said just as lazily, ‘what’s wrong?’

 

‘Let’s take our time walking to practice, shall we?’ He held up a small bag of sweets, waving it in front of Murasakibara as one would wave a ball of yarn in front of a cat—or perhaps it was the other way around, considering their size difference. ‘Father bought a few sweets back from his Hokkaido trip. Would you like to try some?’ he almost purred, voice dripping with honeyed temptation.

 

Although his eyes remained as dull as ever, his lips curved upwards in a childish grin. Murasakibara took the bag from Akashi, looking into its contents excitedly. ‘Eh? Cheers.’

 

Akashi smiled. _Good, now for the main course…_ ‘Shall we go?’

 

\--

 

‘Eh? Minechin’s playing a prank on Akachin?’ Murasakibara asked through a mouthful of red-bean buns. They were currently sitting on a bench outside the gym, close enough to not be late for practice, but far enough to remain hidden from the others’ view.

 

‘Not exactly. More like I feel like I’m currently the main subject of a matter known to him. The matter seems to be funny as well, although Midorima might not think so.’

 

‘Midochin’s in it too?’

 

Akashi nodded. ‘That’s how I feel, though I cannot be entirely sure. Which is why I’m asking you, Atsushi. Do you think there’s anything humorous in regards to Nijimura-san and I?’

 

‘Hm,’ Murasakibara looked up, as if watching the birds soar through the cloud-laden sky would make him recall something. And it did. ‘Oh, I think it has something to do with Akachin liking senpai.’

 

Akashi was confused. _Like?_ ‘Do the rest of them not respect Nijimura-san?’ He admitted that it would be troublesome if his fellow first-year teammates didn’t give the Captain the respect he was due.

 

Murasakibara stared down at Akashi, amused enough to stop munching on his snack, though there was no change in expression that outwardly indicated so. ‘As in Minechin thinks that Akachin _likes_ senpai.’ Murasakibara emphasized the verb on purpose, showing that he wasn’t confusing words, and then added, ‘as in you get excited around him.’

 

The statement made Akashi freeze, eyes widening. Although he would never say it aloud, Murasakibara couldn’t help thinking that the other looked like a cat who just got splashed by water. Creases formed between Akashi’s eyebrows; he was trying to wrap his head around the notion of him, Akashi Seijūrō, liking another person. It wasn’t that he thought no one was good enough for him—it was that he wasn’t really raised to think of something as confusing as _romance_ , or whatever its equivalent in this situation was.

 

‘Is Akachin confused?’ Murasakibara asked.

 

The question made Akashi’s face flush a bit. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Atsushi. It’s just that I overlooked that possibility.’

 

‘So Akachin is con—’

 

‘I also bought Maiubo.’

 

Murasakibara sealed his lips.

 

‘And if you promise to keep this conversation of ours a secret, then I’ll even consider requesting Father to bring back an entire luggage of sweets from his next Belgium trip.’ Of course, it was going to be a rather small luggage, for Akashi Sr. did not deal well with something as inconsequential as sweets—not that Murasakibara had to know.

 

The greedy giant swallowed. ‘L-Lots of sweets?’

 

Akashi’s usual composure returned as he saw the tables turn. _Too easy_. ‘Yes, _lots_ of sweets.’

 

\--

 

Of course, when they finally went in for training, Akashi’s composure was far from his usual self. At first, he resolved to just not approach Nijimura as often as he usually did. Piece of cake—right?

 

Now that Akashi was trying to limit the contact between the two of them, he finally realized how much of his time during basketball practice was spent with Nijimura, be it discussing administrative stuff with him or simply commenting on the other first-years’ childish interaction.

 

Despite feeling unnerved during practice however, Akashi did not let his emotions affect his performance, and he inwardly praised himself for not raising any suspicions among his team members (Murasakibara was still on Cloud Nine from Akashi’s previous sweet promise) throughout the day’s practice.

 

However, when evening came and he thanked Nijimura for his hard work—though not before waiting for the other first-years to leave for the locker room—he realized his acting wasn’t as flawless as he thought it had been.

 

‘What’s up with you today?’ Nijimura asked when the court was finally cleared.

 

Akashi only stared at his Captain, trying to ignore the fact that his body felt lighter and slightly reenergized just from having the older boy start a conversation with him. ‘I don’t believe my performance during practice was below my usual standard.’

 

Nijimura scowled, and Akashi wondered if his already full upper lip always protruded slightly more when he did. ‘Not that bullshit. I’m talking about the look on your face the whole afternoon. You were distracted by something. Everything alright back home?’

 

Akashi raised an eyebrow. ‘Why do you assume that it’s to do with problems at home?’

 

Nijimura flinched, and Akashi didn’t miss the movement. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said, waving it off casually. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with the younger boy. Akashi made a mental note not to ask about it in the future.

 

‘Thank you, Nijimura-san, but I’m alright,’ he said, adding a small smile to make his statement seem more convincing.

 

Unfortunately for the redhead, Nijimura was one of the few people whose instincts enabled him to distinguish Akashi’s genuine smile from his fake one, no matter how practiced the latter may be. But he figured that getting all pricky about it wasn’t going to help in anyway, so he sighed and instead brought a hand up to his junior’s head.

 

To both their surprise, Akashi jerked back.

 

Their eyes widened, and never in Akashi’s life had curse words gone through his head at the speed of light as they had in that moment. He might have even cussed internally in French or Cantonese at some point. But before he could say anything, Nijimura beat him to it.

 

‘Now _that’s_ weird.’ Akashi locked his eyes on his senior’s face, and a tiny knot in chest untangled when he saw that the raven was more surprised than hurt. ‘Do you really dislike it when I do that?’

 

‘No!’ Akashi exclaimed, before covering his mouth, realizing that he had just committed two very uncharacteristic actions in public in a row.

 

 _First I jerk away, and then I shout? What’s wrong with me?_ Akashi blamed it on the fact that he was barely given any time between Murasakibara’s surprising confession and his present situation to properly sort out his feelings. _Not that I have any, of course—feelings, that is. For Nijimura-san_.

 

Akashi’s cheeks burned with how badly his self-convincing skills were. It didn’t help that Nijimura was staring down at him, waiting for some kind of explanation. ‘I’m just... tired.’ He had wanted to say _anxious_ but admitting that there was a flaw in his mental state was even worse than if it were his physical state instead.

 

Although clearly unconvinced, Nijimura said, ‘Huh, really? Guess today’s practice was tougher than usual.’ His tone made Akashi go redder—they both knew that that day’s practice was no different to the ones before. He only felt worse when Nijimura gave him a small pat on the shoulder. The touch was a lousy replacement for Nijimura’s usual hair-ruffling habit. ‘Well, in that case, rest up. See ya tomorrow.’

 

‘Good work today,’ Akashi said bitterly, feeling the sensation of the pat ebbing away at a greater rate than the rough touches his head’s become so accustomed to.

 

\--

 

That night, Akashi found himself staring at the ceiling of his room, replaying the scenario in his head. He quickly realized that it was useless to find any solution that way, since all he could think about was Nijimura-san’s handsome face—

 

_Really, Seijuurou? Are you actually attaching positive adjectives to his facial features now? Like his sharp eyes and full upper lip—_

 

With a groan, Akashi rolled over and buried his face into his pillow, letting out a scream.

 

 --

 

The next day, Akashi was cranky and lacked his usual air of elegance. He ended up spending at least a good entire hour the night before trying to convince himself that Nijimura Shuuzou was _not_ God’s finest gift to humankind.

 

 _After all,_ Akashi said into the mirror, _he is an ex-delinquent who has anger issues and thinks that Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a food outlet_.

 

But ‘twas all in vain, for Akashi Seijuurou found himself _blushing_ over all those qualities of Nijimura. He knew that the captain was always violent with Haizaki because he was strict with everyone, including himself. Despite his rowdy past, Nijimura became a good student, with good grades and discipline, and even became the strongest Power Forward in Middle School basketball in his second year. And while Akashi had been severely appalled by his captain’s literary knowledge, he couldn’t deny that he had found the remark _vaguely_ adorable.

 

Not that he would ever admit it aloud.

 

So instead of saying the words he wanted to scream out, Akashi opted to sigh loudly, surprising Midorima. They were on their way to practice, and Midorima more than noticed the other’s much more normal but not-so-Akashi air of teenage grouchiness. It was oddly refreshing. ‘You okay, Akashi?’

 

‘I rather not answer that question.’ After all, admitting weakness was acknowledging it, and Akashi Seijuurou will not allow himself to be so affected by something as trivial as a crush on his captain.

 

 _An alarmingly handsome, reliable captain with a ridiculously cute upper lip_ , he couldn’t help but add mentally.

 

 _Shut up_ , the other half of his brain said.

 

Now Midorima wasn’t the type of person to say anything particular without being asked, but since he was relatively good friends with Akashi, he thought that he’d impart a few words of wisdom to the red-haired. ‘You know, Akashi, Sagittarius is placed fourth today, but I still recommend that you obtain your lucky item, an armband.’

 

‘Oh? And what is the lucky color of the armband, may I ask?’

 

‘Rainbow.’

 

 --

 

Most times, Akashi thanked Fate that he was appointed vice-captain, partly because it had been due to a certain captain’s recommendation, and partly because it meant that he spent a _lot_ of time with certain captain.

 

Other times, Akashi cursed Fate that he was appointed vice-captain, because it meant that he could _never_ avoid Nijimura. It didn’t help that he was the more reliable of the two vice-captains.

 

It was when Akashi was heading back to class after practice to retrieve his book that the one person he wanted to see and avoid called out to him.

 

‘Hey Akashi, do you have the schedule for our upcoming training camp?’ And there he was, with his grey eyes that matched Akashi’s shirt and red shirt that matched Akashi’s—

 

 _Too into it, pull back, pull back,_ Akashi shouted internally. ‘Yes, it’s right here.’

 

What Akashi didn’t know was that Nijimura had already gotten a copy of the schedule from Momoi. He’d asked Akashi on purpose to gauge a reaction from him—any kind. He knew that it’d be better if they were alone as well, which was why he had chosen to ask after practice rather than during.

 

Thankfully, it didn’t seem that the red-haired hated him—either that, or Akashi was really good at hiding his resentment towards people. Nijimura really hoped it wasn’t the latter.

 

While standing and pretending to listen to his vice-captain talk, Nijimura noticed a piece of string on Akashi’s face. It was almost comical—Akashi Seijuurou explaining circuits with a seriousness that was uncharacteristic of most people his age. Nijimura half-smiled, and leaned down to pick at it. ‘For someone so observant, you—’

 

But then Nijimura spotted the look Akashi gave him, and he stopped talking.

 

The red-haired’s lips were pressed into an awkward line, and his face turned almost as red as his hair. _Wow_. ‘Uhh, sorry?’ Nijimura asked more than said. _Don’t tell me—?_

 

Akashi shook his head, but covered his mouth with his paper. ‘It’s not your fault, Nijimura-san.’ Maybe it was his imagination, but Nijimura swore Akashi’s voice sounded less controlled right then. ‘Actually, Nijimura-san—’

 

 _I’m in love with you_.

 

But the words didn’t come out. Instead, Akashi found himself almost nose-to-nose with Nijimura, and he froze at the close contact. The captain thought it highly endearing. ‘Wanna get a drink some time?’ he asked, finally pulling away.

 

Akashi, eyes, hair and face forming an amusing combo of deep crimson, could only stare at his senior. His brain was still stuck on the words that were itching to be said, confessed. But when Nijimura’s invitation finally registered in his mind, he smiled shyly. _Guess I won’t be saying those words to you, Nijimura-san_.

 

‘I’d love to.’

 

_Well, at least for now._


End file.
